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Topic: Port vs not a port

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LzWinky

I would say emulation too. The game is the same (for the most part)

Current games: Everything on Switch

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Haru17

I think plenty of games are developed for a target platform (usually PS4 right now) and then port it over to others during development. If they all launch simultaneously then it's a lot harder to tell which platform the game was originally built for, or if it was developed for multiple platforms as they worked on game's content.

If a game comes out after the original release date on a different platform, that version was obviously not the original target — it's a port (see: Rise of the Tomb Raider PS4, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe). I don't see how this is a question really, you can't make Switch not have a lot of ports with semantics.

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DTMOF84

@Haru17 it’s a question because obviously several people have a different take on it.

I myself am not against ports. Especially on the Switch. I just don’t hear it as a term used towards Xbox and PS4 games. A game will come out for all three systems and still be referred to as the Switch port.

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Haru17

That's because most AAA PS4 games are new and they have a bunch of natively developed exclusives as well. The biggest new PS4 game in recent memory that was a port was Persona 5, which also had a PS3 version.

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rallydefault

Yep. If you wanna be really picky with the term, technically most console games are ports because they are dev'd on PCs.

rallydefault

Tibob

DTMOF84 wrote:

According to the Google definition, then every game is technically a port if it is on more than one system or platform. That’s kind of what I am getting at with it being a term constantly thrown out there. The way it’s used makes it seem as if none of these games belonged on Switch in the first place. Doom is ported on Xbox One and PS4 because it is also on PC and technically can run at higher specs on there.

Developing a game for multiple systems (like Doom, which was released on the very same date on PS Xbox and PC) is different than taking an already released game and "making it fit" into another system. Specs and power have nothing to do with it : we're talking about "porting a game TO another system", not "proting a game DOWN to another system" (every Wii U game being ported to the Switch is still a port).

Tibob

DTMOF84

@Tibob so specs and power have nothing to do with it? But being released on the same day or not do?

if a game runs at higher specs on PC and is made to work on Xbox, but came out the same day... Not a port..?

You even say porting a game down to another system. Does that not have to do with system specs then?

Everyone has their own take on this. It’s pretty funny.

Edited on by DTMOF84

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DTMOF84

@rallydefault basically correct if we use the Google definition.

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Eel

You're just overcomplicating yourself for no good reason.

Basically everyone in this thread has agreed on what makes a port a port.

Edited on by Eel

Bloop.

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DTMOF84

@Meowpheel who is?

There are several people in here with a different take on it.

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link3710

@DTMOF84 For reference, Crash Bandicoot Trilogy's releases on PC, XB1, Switch and PC are all ports. Bayonetta's recent release to PC was a port. De Blob's and Okami HD's release on all four platforms were a Wii port and a PS2 port respectively. Speaking of PS4, it has ports of Bioshock 1,2 and infinite, Borderland 1,2, and Pre-Sequel, Skyrim, Uncharted, Beyond Two Souls, Heavy Rain... I could go on and on.

In fact, sometimes we'll see ports of ports, like when the Windows port of Final Fantasy IX was ported to PS4. If you want to see talk of ports, just look towards more Sony focused forums... especially during years 1&2 of the systems life.

EDIT: And yes, we all agree. A port is any game that was made specifically for one system, then moved to another. That process is called porting.

Edited on by link3710

link3710

bluemage1989

NaviAndMii wrote:

I saw a few negative comments after the last Direct regarding titles such as Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy and South Park: Fractured But Whole much to the effect of; 'Oh great! More ports!" - which felt a little unreasonable.

Don't get me wrong, they are of course - by definition - 'ports' ..but the negative sentiments (by some) seemed a little over the top considering that they were only originally released on other platforms a few months earlier.

For me, these ports seem to come in a few different flavours; there are 'classics' (eg. Vs. Super Mario Bros.),
'modern classics' (Skyrim, Minecraft etc), 'new-ish' games (eg. DOOM), 'cash-grabs' (long dormant games, dragged and dropped on to a new console while its library is still growing - and, in doing so, making more money than they'd otherwise deserve) and the just plain 'lazy' (poorly optimised, sub-standard games) ..and it's only really the latter two that we need worry about

As far as I'm concerned, ports are (generally speaking) a good thing - to me, games like DOOM, Skyrim, Minecraft, Rocket League etc feel like they're just 'bringing the Switch up to speed' more than anything else...and they're very much welcome - so long as they don't fall in to the 'cash grab' or 'lazy' categories!

EDIT: I realise that I've taken a bit of a tangent there - consider them (completely made up) 'sub definitions'

EDIT 2: See below - just adding another one in there too; 'B-titles' - a nice little game (but perhaps not truly a 'classic') which doesn't really belong in any of the above sub-categories

You know what that's actually a pretty good way to define them.

bluemage1989

Lethal

A port is exactly what it sounds like. Taking a game that was built for certain platforms only, then porting that game to work on another platform.

Edited on by Lethal

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Tibob

@DTMOF84
You're pretending the notion of port is something complex when you're the only one who seems to not understand it. Now good luck with that !

Tibob

DTMOF84

@Tibob I understand it. I also understand there is more than one definition for it. Some feel it has to do with a games release date and what not. This is just a topic of debate. Seems as if if you don’t share the majority opinion all the snarkiness come out.

Edited on by DTMOF84

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StuTwo

The ‘technical’ answer of what a port is isn’t necessarily the one that really matters. Honestly the difference is marketing perception.

A multi platform release will be a port to 2 out of 3 platforms that it releases on but that doesn’t matter. It’s timely and is on the surface (and below) pretty much exactly the same game.

So a port is just a release on a platform that’s either relevant to the market or not relevant. They are either successful or not successful based on a range of factors - but their inherent background of ‘being a port’ isn’t one of those.

Tetris on the GameBoy - perhaps the most successful single game ever released - was a port.

StuTwo

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Shellcore

@DTMOF84 It's all in the link below. It's the process of adapting software to work on hardware that is different to the hardware it was originally released on.

As you mentioned the cost issues some people have with ports; I think this quote explains their standpoint. It also uses portable as a adjective to define validity of the ports (noun) themselves.

"Software is portable when the cost of porting it to a new platform is significantly less than the cost of writing it from scratch. The lower the cost of porting software, relative to its implementation cost, the more portable it is said to be".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porting

Edited on by Shellcore

skywake

Meowpheel wrote:

You're just overcomplicating yourself for no good reason.
Basically everyone in this thread has agreed on what makes a port a port.

To be fair whatever the technical definition is "port" means less to consumers than it used to. Not only is a lot of content multi-platform these days from the get go but development cycles in general are different. We have a lot of annualised releases and a lot of the games that aren't annualised are getting ongoing support. A couple of decades ago a port to a new platform near launch pretty much always meant getting a sub-par release of a game nobody cared about anymore. These days it could be technically identical to that but for consumers it's a game like Rocket League on Switch which isn't sub-par or irrelevant

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DTMOF84

skywake wrote:

Meowpheel wrote:

You're just overcomplicating yourself for no good reason.
Basically everyone in this thread has agreed on what makes a port a port.

To be fair whatever the technical definition is "port" means less to consumers than it used to. Not only is a lot of content multi-platform these days from the get go but development cycles in general are different. We have a lot of annualised releases and a lot of the games that aren't annualised are getting ongoing support. A couple of decades ago a port to a new platform near launch pretty much always meant getting a sub-par release of a game nobody cared about anymore. These days it could be technically identical to that but for consumers it's a game like Rocket League on Switch which isn't sub-par or irrelevant

Someone seems to get it.

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